** Shares of vaccine maker Novavax NVAX.O fall 23.3% to $5.18, following comments by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the company's COVID-19 vaccine in an interview with CBS

** Kennedy, in response to whether the the FDA delay in traditional approval of the vaccine was due to reshuffling of staff at the agency, points to the shot's single antigen composition

** "We're looking at that vaccine, and it is a single-antigen vaccine. And, for respiratory illnesses, the single antigen vaccines have never worked," said Kennedy

** Novavax did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment

** It said last week that the FDA had missed the deadline for traditional approval of the shot, saying that it had responded to all of the FDA's information requests as of April 1 and it believes its application is "ready for approval"

** Including session moves, stock down 35.5% YTD

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru)

((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))